


Sartorial Elegance

by Ailette



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Imported, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-28
Updated: 2008-05-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 11:59:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6703726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailette/pseuds/Ailette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of Tony’s latest creations goes… bad?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“No!” Tony’s voice carried from his lab up to Steve, who was on his way down there. He sounded rather angry. Most likely Dummy had tried to extinguish “fire” again.  
  
“I.said.no!” Steve froze when he heard something break. “Bad SarEl! …right. That’s better. Now, give me back my – OW!”   


Set in motion by Tony’s shout of pain Steve hastily ran down the last couple of stairs. He burst through the door separating him from the lab and stopped dead in his tracks. He wanted to do something about the scene in front of him. Anything, really. But he just had to take it all in first.   


Tony stood in the furthest corner of the room, a wrench held protectively in his left hand fending of his latest robot – SarEl? Next to the fussing machine and the cursing man lay a pile of clothing. And the great CEO of Stark Enterprises? Was defending his last bit of fabric – his thong.  


Only Tony’s whine stopped him from bursting out loud into laughing. “Steve! Stop your laughing for later and just help me!”  


But before Steven could so much as move a finger he heard a whirring noise coming only a few feet away from where Tony stood. He knew that sound. Suddenly, Tony and his new robot were being bathed in white foam.   


“Dummy!” The angered shout came only seconds later. Steve cracked. He had to laugh so hard his knees buckled under him and he hit the floor.   


It took him a couple of minutes to recover. Still chuckling and wiping his eyes he looked up. The corner was now empty except for a motionless SarEl. It took him a few seconds to make out a nearly naked Tony chasing Dummy through the lab.    
  



	2. Chapter 2

Tony growned. He would have done more but couldn’t really move. He should have checked SarEl again. And memorize something for the future: a robot that has gone rogue once, will most likely do it again. If only he hadn’t been so busy these last couple of days he probably would have thought of that. Instead he had fixed SarEl and set it up to do his laundry again. It all had been going well enough. That was, until he had requested SarEl to pick something to wear for his dinner with Steve tonight. They hadn’t seen each other for some time (not since SarEl’s last attack, to be precise) and Tony had been eager to get there.  
  
As a result of his carelessness he was now lying paralysed on his own workbench, SarEl fussing over his face. Over his lips, to be more precise. This was just brilliant. He had programmed SarEl to look after his laundry and make sure he didn’t have to worry about his appearance anymore when he went out. All he had done was feed him the latest fashion magazines for reference. So the question that arose was: Why the hell was his robot putting him in a dress and applying make-up?  
  
And where did he get the references from? SarEl didn’t have internet access and sure as hell didn’t just buy some woman fashion magazine at the next kiosk. Someone must have given him this information. Since Tony couldn’t even see anymore (SarEl had closed his eyes and now was doing something to them – eyeshadow?) he concentrated on finding someone he could blame this on. Dummy was always first in line but definitively not bright enough to seek revenge via women’s clothing.  

Jarvis? Tony considered for a moment. There wasn’t much he didn’t think his AI capable of. Hell, he was practically _british_. He could do anything! But had he done anything to piss his mechanic butler of lately?

Maybe he should concentrate on his human acquaintances. Happy wouldn’t do this kind of thing and Rhodey only would if he could later see the results to laugh his butt of. Steve wasn’t tech-savvy enough. Keeping in mind that no one else had been here since he had repaired SarEl, Pepper was the only one left who could have done it. But why?   
  
Tony itched to scratch his forehead but couldn’t. Well, at least he could see again. He wasn’t too fond of SarEl groping his legs though. If he could only move his head a little to see what was being done to him… Woah. That was his private area. Not only revoked that some bad memories of his Sentient Armor, but also some good ones of Steve growling in his ear, telling him exactly what he would do, would Tony even think about letting anyone else touch him.  
  
Unable to shiver, Tony just closed his eyes and wondered briefly why he could move them and still breathe but nothing else. He was caught by surprise when SarEl heaved him from the table all of a sudden. With his eyes wide open he realised where his robot was about to carry him.  It was easy, since there were just two rooms behind his lab. One of them was his secret lab and the second one was his and Steve’s “Fun Room”. It was supposed to be a second bedroom but someday there had suddenly been mirrors all around, making everything they did in there just a little bit more fun. Steve had insisted on calling it the “Fun Room” ever since then and Tony still denied being the one who put up the mirrors. What? He didn’t. He hired people for stuff like that.  
  
Tony could feel the soft bedding under him but kept his eyes shut for the moment. He really didn’t want to see his own creation triumphing over him. That was, until he felt his left wrist being lifted and… no way. Was SarEl _tying him up_? Tony carefully opened his eyes and glanced at his wrist, by now securely tied to the bedpost. His arm was covered with a silk scarf in a deep shade of red. It only occurred to Tony that he could move his head again, when his right wrist had undergone the same procedure. Great. He didn’t know why exactly he was this slow today, but again he didn’t notice that SarEl had left the room and closed the door behind itself until it all had happened. Oh. And the room was soundproof. He considered calling someone via Extremis but honestly, who could he call in a situation like this? Never mind that nearly everyone was on an important mission somewhere.   
  
He sighed heavily and let his head connect with the wall behind him. This angle even allowed him to see himself completely in the mirror on the ceiling. A fact he regretted only seconds later. Anthony Edward Stark rarely ever blushed and liked to think of himself as experienced. However, as he saw himself right now two things happened simultaneously.   
  
1\. He knew who it was he had to blame for his current situation.  
  
2\. He blushed furiously.  
  
The person he saw in the mirror looked for all intents and purposes like a woman. So much, in fact, that he wouldn’t have been able to recognize himself, had he not know that was a mirror and not a poster. His hair had been combed to mostly on side, leaving him with bangs falling in his face. (He knew he should have had a haircut. Damn Steve.) His goatee had been shaved off so his bright red lips were fully visible. Thank god that seemed to be the only hair he’d lost. He always had his eyebrows done and didn’t sport any hair on his chest or legs. As it was, his eyelashes seemed to be twice as long as usual and the eyelids shimmered in a light mauve. Hadn’t his face been burning all over, he would have seen the rouge on his cheekbones. Around his neck was the ruby colored scarf fulfilling two purposes. It held his wrists in place and also covered his Adam’s apple.

His eyes trailed down his own body, following a long, dark red silk dress. It was then that Tony became aware that he had neither fake breasts nor an unusually slender waist. Both areas only were accented by golden jewellery. A long necklace dangled down to where his cleavage would have been and a belt made of circles hang low around his waist. Thank god SarEl didn’t actually pierce his ears for the small pearl earrings. How they _were_ attached was beyond him though. And it didn’t matter how hard he concentrated on the jewellery. Eventually he had to face the fishnet pantyhose [1] covering his legs and ending in black high heels that would make Pepper envious.

Many papers called him a playboy. Could they see him now, they would definitively use the term “slut”. And no one would argue them.    
  
It didn’t get any easier by the realization that it was Tony’s own fault. The picture he was currently presenting was taken straight out of one of his really old Playboy magazines. He had made Jarvis tidy up and discard some of his old stuff. During the process SarEl must have gotten hold of the magazine and processed the “new references” right away.   
  
After tugging unsuccessfully on his bonds Tony closed his eyes once more and began to pray that Steve would find him as soon as possible, but preferably blindfolded. His partner teased him enough about his “unnatural love for everything mechanic” as it was. He would never let him live this one down.

***

While in reality it had only been around ten minutes, Tony would later on swear he spend hours waiting for Steve. And it certainly had felt like it, too. Due to the soundproof walls around him, Tony didn’t hear the heavy angry steps. He only saw the fury on his lover’s face. And heard it in his voice.  
  
“How dare you, Tony-“   
  
Steve stopped mid-sentence, his eyes falling on the figure in front of him. He quickly scanned the room before he asked in an eerily calm voice, “Where is he?”  
  
Tony frowned. It took him a moment to overcome the confusion and realize that Steve didn’t recognize him. Of course he didn’t. He didn’t even recognize _himself_.  But before he could say something, he noticed the small photograph Steve held in his hand. And although it was slightly crumpled, Tony could still make out himself on this very bed, in this very getup. He gasped. SarEl must have taken a picture earlier on and placed it somewhere for Steve to find. Presumably even with timestamp. That explained Steve’s anger, however…  
  
“You thought I would betray you?” Tony couldn’t help it; the hurt was evident in his voice.  
  
Steve’s eyes widened. He stared at him incredulously for a moment before his voice came back to him. “Tony? Is that you?”  
  
“Well, unless you accuse me of sleeping with transvestites now, who else could it be?”  
  
His lover took an involuntarily step back. “Did some supervillain make you a woman?”  
  
Tony momentarily forgot to be angry at his partner. “I – what? No! I’m just dressed up as a woman! I’m still a man!”   
  
“You dress up as a woman when I’m not around?”  
  
“No! SarEl did!”  
  
“Your _robots_ dress you up as woman and _tie you to the bed_ when I’m not around?”  
  
“No! Well, kind of, but I didn’t want this!”  
  
Steve started to rub at his temple, as if fighting an oncoming headache. He continued to do so for some time before Tony spoke up again. His voice was calmer now, no particular emotion audible.  
  
“You thought I would betray you.” It wasn’t even a question anymore. It was a statement, a realization. Steve let his hand fall to his side and sat down on the bed. He couldn’t really deny that.   
  
“What do you expect me to think when I see a picture like this?” He sounded defensive when he threw the photo next to the bed. “And given your history…”  
  
Tony closed his eyes for a brief second. He had never betrayed any of his former partners. Steve knew that. Then again… he only had Tony’s word for it. Maybe he didn’t believe in that either.  
  
“Untie me.” Steve looked startled at Tony’s request. Not only had he forgotten all about that, but Tony sounded… cold. It was the kind of voice he used when he talked to bad businessmen, supervillains, exes or was hurt and didn’t anyone else to know.   
  
Steve had known Tony for so long. He knew Tony so well… Or at least, that’s what he always had thought. And it had been true – back when they were only friends. But as a lover, he barely even knew Tony for two months. He sighed softly before he bend down and rested his forehead against Tony’s.   
  
“I said – untie me.” His voice was shaking a little.  
  
“No.” Steve placed a gentle kiss on top of his hair. “Not before we sorted this out. Look, Tony, I’m sorry about thinking that you could…”  
  
A fragile laugh came from Tony. “Fuck around behind your back?” Steve winced at his harsh words but continued.   
  
“I’m sorry. I know you would never to that, but… You never say anything… And, I guess, I – I was just a little… insecure…”  
  
“How can you make this my fault?”  
  
“I’m not making this your fault–“   
  
“And I’m telling you how much I care about you all the time!” At Steve’s disbelieving look Tony continued. “I stand up an hour too early to see you before I go to work in the morning, I call you at least once a day when we don’t see each other – heck, I even do that _when_ we see each other!; I go to bed every night while I could be working , I- dammit Steve!” Tony’s voice broke and a sob escaped his lips before he pressed them together, obviously trying to control his emotions. Steve felt like his heart broke a little more with every word his lover said.

The next thing Tony said was barely above a whisper.  
  
“How can you not know how much I love you?”  
  
Steve carefully tilted Tony’s chin up to look him in the eyes. His expression was as soft as his voice when he murmured, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”.  He placed his lips on Tony’s. It only took a few seconds for Tony to respond to the kiss, but Steve felt like these had been the longest seconds of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Originally posted at http://ailette.livejournal.com/7553.html)

**Author's Note:**

> (SarEl is supposed to be an abbreviaton of “sartorial elegance”.)  
> (Originally posted at http://ailette.livejournal.com/6985.html)


End file.
